Final Post

I would just like to say that I enjoyed this class. I have learned more about poetry, literature, and drama than ever thought I would. I think my final grade could have been better, but I will accept what I get. I tried hard in this class, and I had fun. I hope James Hepworth had fun too. I hope everyone has a good summer! I hope to see at least the same people back on campus next fall!

Charades

Our group did "muchos somos" in poetry today, and we did "Sonny's Blues" for the short story portion of charades. By the way, the english translation for muchos somos is We Are Many. The poetry name was difficult to do in charades. Sonny's Blues wasn't quite as bad to get the audience to identify it.

Sure Thing UTube

Don Sampo
Professor Hepworth
Introduction to Literature
May 3, 2009

The video I watched on UTube was very good! Both Betty and Bill were funny and smooth performers. I didn't care much for the apparel, especially Bill. If was intending to pick up on Betty or some other lady, he could have worn something nicer to his date. On a scale from one to ten, I think they deserve at least an 8 for performance! They seem to work well in this performance!

Annotated Bibliography

Don Sampo
Professor Hepworth
English 150
April 14, 2009
Fiction

Aesop. “The North Wind and the Sun.” Trans. Vernon Jones. 6th century B.C. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Longman, 2007. 5-6.
The Wind and the Sun argue about their strength, and they test a stranger.

Baldwin, James. “Sonny’s Blues.” 1957. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Longman, 2007. 43-63.
Sonny is a heroin addict, and his brother is an algebra teacher that comes to terms with him.

Bidpai. “The Camel and His Friends.” Trans. Arundhati Khanwalkar. 4th century A.D. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Longman, 2007. 6-7.
The animals wonder who will get eaten, and their friends do the deed.

Carver, Raymond. “Cathedral.” 1983. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Longman, 2007. 98-108.
A woman and her husband deal with Robert, the blind man, and the husband realizes the blind man’s circumstances.

Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily.” 1931. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Longman, 2007. 28-35.
Emily was popular in this small town, and her love affair with Homer lasted much of her life.

Grimm, Jakob and Grimm, Wilhelm. “Godfather Death.” Trans. Dana Gioia. 1812. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Longman, 2007. 9-11.
The poor man trades his soul for rewards, and Death ends up taking his life.

Mansfield, Katherine. “Miss Brill.” 1922. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Longman, 2007. 83-86.
Miss Brill has to meddle into other’s lives, and one day she hears a lover’s conversation that changes her outlook on life.

Maugham, W. Somerset. “The Appointment in Samarra.” 1933. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Longman, 2007. 4-5.
A servant has an appointment with Death.

Porter, Katherine Anne. “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall.” 1930. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Longman, 2007. 76-82.
Granny was mindful of her letters to George and John, and the letters made her nervous just being there in that attic.

Tyler, Anne. “Teenage Wasteland.” 1983. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Longman, 2007. 35-42.
Donny was a problem child, and he felt like he didn’t fit in with the rest of his family’s life.

Tzu, Chuang. “Independence.” Trans. Herbert Giles. 4th century B.C. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Longman, 2007. 8-9.
Chuang Tzu would rather live like a tortoise and have his freedom too.

Updike, John. “A & P.” 1961. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Longman, 2007. 14-19.
Sammy and the manager don’t see eye to eye, and three young girls display their bodies in public.

Welty, Eudora. “A Worn Path.” 1941. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Longman, 2007. 64-69.
Phoenix Jackson walks a lot on that same old path, and she is a feisty old lady.

Wolff, Tobias. “The Rich Brother.” 1985. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Longman, 2007. 86-98.
Pete and Donald had conflicts with each other, but Pete was rich, and the Donald was not.

List Number Two, Fiction

Don Sampo
James Hepworth
April 14, 2009
List Number 2
Fiction

Reading
Chapters 1 and 2
Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin
Teenage Wasteland by Anne Tyler
A & P
Chapter 3
Barn Burning by William Faulkner
The Rich Brother by Tobias Wolff
Cathedral by Raymond Carver

Writing
My short story
A response to Sonny’s Blues
A response to Teenage Wasteland
A response to A & P
Brothers
Retelling A & P
Dispute gone awry
My character traits
Barn burning character list
Chicano
A response to Cathedral
Annotated Bibliography

A response to Cathedral

Don Sampo
James Hepworth
English 150
April 14, 2009
A response

Cathedral
By Raymond Carver

1. The narrator, the husband, said that the blind never laugh and move slowly. She told him that the blind man touched her face, her nose and even her neck! The narrator’s misconceptions about the blind start to change when they are alone and they smoke a joint.
2. The wife kept asking Robert because she thought that she needed to help him upstairs. I think the wife was tired and didn’t think the blind man and the husband would associate very well together. I think that Robert’s reply to the narrator was interesting to the husband. The blind man wanted to talk to the husband for a change, instead of the wife.
3. Robert asked the husband to describe what he saw on television, the cathedral.
4. I think the effectiveness of the story is heightened by the husband being the narrator. It seems like the reader is almost right there in the story with him.
5. I would describe the epiphany as amazing. The narrator closed his eyes, and he got a sense of what it feels like to be blind.
6. No, I wouldn’t describe the narrator as an antihero. The blind man finally helped the narrator to perceive blind people in a whole new light. At the end of the story he says, “But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything. It’s really something,” he said.
7. The wife is a round character. She tells the husband about some of her past, and there are many different aspects of her life before she met the husband. Robert is a blind man, but he seems to know a lot of people and things from talking to different persons.
8. I started to say something about the old sofa. I’d liked that old sofa. But I didn’t say anything. The narrator didn’t say anything because he was trying not to interrupt the conversation between the wife and Robert. He was being kind even though he still wasn’t convinced about his feelings for blind people. I think he was jealous over Robert. Robert was getting all of the attention, and he was not.

A response to The Rich Brother

Don Sampo
James Hepworth
English 150
April 14, 2009
A response

The Rich Brother
By Tobias Wolff

1. The brothers, Donald and Pete, seem to be developing characters. We learn more about their personalities as the story proceeds.
2. Wolff employs an objective point of view, as kind of an outsider. Pete’s perceptions of Donald seem like he knows him, yet Donald speaks as if he doesn’t really know him or understand him.
3. Pete’s idea of Donald’s purpose in life is well founded, but I think brothers are sometimes hard to figure out. My brothers and I have a good relationship, but we don’t always tell each other exactly how we feel about life and family.
4. I do believe Donald’s claim that Pete tried to kill him when they were children. My brother and I fought ferociously when we were kids. My dad was amazed that we made to adulthood without dying.
5. Pete’s dream of being blind was his way of payback to Donald. I think Pete was tired of watching over his brother. I think Pete wanted help for a change. I think Pete needed help to manage with the blindness.
6. Donald doesn’t blame Pete for dropping him off on the road. Pete gave Donald some money, and Donald squandered it away on a dream of his. Pete doesn’t understand his brother as much he thinks.
7. Yes, this story could be called “My Brother’s Keeper.” Pete takes care of Donald and watches over him. They don’t always seem to get along, but brothers seem to do that sometimes. I mean fight against each other.